Mechanical loader for loose materials



. 1933 J. SHEPPARD MECHANICAL LOADER FOR LOOSE MATERIALS Filed Feb. 9,1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 jmn/En- 470% 5hzppard.

Nov. 8, 1938. J. SHEPPARD MECHANICAL LOADER FOR LOOSE MATERIALS 4Sheets-Sheet 2 VIIIIIITIIIIA jmnLa-r John Jheppard.

Nov. 8, 19. J. SHEPPARD MECHANICAL LOADER FOR LOOSE MATERIALS 4SheetS-Sheei 3 Filed Feb. 9, 1938 mm #m Nov. 8, 1938. J E A 2,135,773

MECHANICAL LOADER FOR LOOSE MATERIALS Filed Feb. 9, 1958 4 sheets-sheet4 jmwQnqz Join 1 jhepparaL Patented Nov. 8, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENTFFiCE.

MECHANICAL LOADER FOR LOOSE MATERIALS Application February 9, 1938,Serial No'. 189,694 In Great Britain December 8, 1936 5 Claims.

This inventionrelates to a mechanical loader for loose material and hasfor its purpose to provide a loader embodying such characteristics aswill make it well adapted for loading coal; after it has been undercutand broken down at the coal face; onto a travelling conveyor whereby itmay be transferred from the ground level to vehicles of one kind oranother.

To this end a loader comprising a support, mounted for movement alongthe face of the cut, is provided with a scraper projecting laterallyfrom the support, in order that the same may be moved closely adjacentthe wall, while the support including the operating mechanism is spacedsubstantially therefrom by the length of the scraper. Such anarrangement, it is clear, permits the scraper to follow along veryclosely the contour of the cut during the scraping operation, but at thesame time obviates danger to the working parts of the mechanism byaccidental falls from the face of the cut by reason the fact that theconveyor is spaced substantherefrom. It is within the purview of thisinvention, however, that the loader may take such other forms as willadapt it to most successfully fulfill the particular work to be done.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, the samewill now be more fully described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

Figure l is a view of a mechanical loader looking in the direction ofarrow A, Figure 3, and Figure 2 is a corresponding diagrammatic Viewillustrating the operation of the scraper or pusher.

Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation of the i echanical loader shownin Figure 1, and Figure a is a sectional plan view thereof.

Figures 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views similar to Figure 1 butillustrating modified arrangements.

Referring to the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, themechanical loader comprises a frame B, having a sloping side wall C,adapted to support a scraper bar and the driving mechanism therefor. Thelatter comprises a pusher plate or scraper I, mounted upon the outer endof a heavy section arm 2 which is connected to two positively drivenendless chains 3 arranged alongside one another and being of exactly thesame length. These endless hain's ii are mounted upon end drivingsprockets secured to shafts i journalled in said inclined wall C. Eachof the sprockets have the same number of teeth and; are positivelycoupled together by spur gearing 5 so that they travel at the same speedin the same direction and in the same plane. Each chain 3 has one of itslinks fitted with a pin 8, and the pin of that chain 3 which is nearerthe work or material is engaged with a hole in the scraperorpushercarrying arm 2 at or toward the outer end thereof, whilst the pinon the other chain 3 is engaged within a hole in the inner end of saidarm 2, the arrangement being such that the scraper or pusher I moves forsome distance in a straight line parallel with the forward end of themachine and in so doing carries a quantity of material with it to theend of the working stroke,

whereupon the scraper or pusher l is withdrawn from the material andreturns to the initial position where it is again advanced into thematerial ready for the next working stroke, and so on, as shown inFigure 2.

The chains 3 pass around idler sprockets l at the other end and theidler sprocket bearings are adjustable by means of screws 8 whereby thechains 3 can be tensioned, whilst in order to prevent the chains 3 fromsagging or slipping under load they are supported and guided in channels9.

The two chains 3 are set in the same plane at an angle instead ofhorizontally (see Figure 3) so that the scraper I will be raised clearof the floor during the receding action and will be lowered again towardthe floor at the end of the return stroke ready for the working stroke.

The chains may be driven either by an electric or air motor 12 throughsuitable reduction gears, and the machine as a whole may be traversedintermittently up to the material by ratchet and pawl mechanismoperating upon tractor wheels or upon the winding drum of a haulagerope. The scraper bar, it is clear, moves from left to right during itsworking stroke whereby the loose material is pushed onto the conveyor3?. It is necessary, therefore, that the carriage be movedintermittently toward the left so that the scraper bar may take a newbite of material at each stroke. The ratchet and pawl mechanism may beadapted to be rendered inoperative when it is desired to travel themachine from place to place, and the ground wheels may be coupledthrough clutches to the main drive to give continuous travel and permitsteering.

Thus as shown more particularly in Figures 3 and 4 the centre spur wheel5 is adapted to be coupled by means of a dog clutch I!) to a shaft IIwhich is driven through reduction gear from an electric or air motor [2,said reduction gear whilst the ratchet wheel 20 is coupled to a spurWheel in mesh with a spur pinion 26 which is freely rotatable upon theground wheel shaft 27 and is adapted to be coupled thereto by a slidingdog clutch 28 on said shaft. The ratchet feed may be adjusted by meansof a bevel gear sector 29 operated by a bevel pinion 30 on the shaft 3Iof a controlling hand wheel 32 having an automatic stop incorporated inits bearing, whilst the clutch 28 is adapted to be adjusted from therear through lever and link mechanism 33.

In order to provide a continuous drive or the ground wheels I6 for thepurpose of moving the loader from one working site to another the shaftof the worm wheel I9 drives through bevel wheels 34 and a spur wheel 35,a spur pinion 36 which is normally free to rotate on the ground Wheelshaft 21 and which can be coupled thereto through the two-way clutchelement 28.

The scraper or pusher I operates to deliver the material on to a chainbelt conveyor 31 to be driven by an auxiliary gear (not shown) coupledto the main gearing, and said conveyor may be fitted with suitablemechanism for raising or lowering, extending endways or swingingsideways.

Flgures 5 and 6 illustrate applications of the invention to end-onloading, i. e. for picking up the material in front of the machine andcarrying it upwards and backwards, finally de livering it on to aconveyor extending from the rear.

In each of these embodiments there is two sets of chains 3, the scrapersor pushers I .associated therewith operating to sweep the materialrearwardly in a path between said sets and then being withdrawnlaterally and returned to the front again ready to perform the nextrearward movement.

r'rhe arrangement shown in Figure 5 has the two chains 3 of each setmounted on end sprockets 4* of different sizes so that one chain 3 workswithin the other, and each pair or set of chains carries a plurality ofscrapers or pushers I each anchored to said chains. Thus the scrapers orpushers have in addition to their continuous travel an angular movementimparted as a result of the different lengths of the chains in each set,the two chains in each set being driven so that they take the same timefor each complete cycle. With this arrangement a large number ofscrapers or pushers I may be employed since they do not interfere onewith another and the material will be carried back in a more or lessuniform manner.

The two opposed sets of chains 3 in Figure 6 are each carried by endsprockets U and the outer chain of each set is also carried aroundguiding sprockets 4 to impart an angular sweeping movement of thescraper or pusher I into the central path at the entrance or forwardend. In this arrangement only one scraper or pusher I can be. employedon each chain set and the drive is so arranged that one scraper orpusher is. at the commencement of its operative or sweeping stroke whenthe other is being withdrawn at the other end and 'is about to begin itsreturn. Each scraper or pusher I sweeps through the same central path,the limits of which are indicated by dotted lines.

Iclaimz- 1. A mechanical loader for loose material comprising a support,a pair of endless chains lying in the same plane with runs thereof inparallel relation and mounted on said support, a scraper bar secured tosaid chains at substantially corresponding points on the respectivechains and means to move said chains.

2. A mechanical loader for loose materials comprising a support, a pairof chains lying in the same plane and mounted on said support, pinsmounted at substantially corresponding points on the respective chains,and a scraper bar secured to said pins, said chains propelling andguiding the scraper bar bodily in an oblong orbital path whilemaintaining said bar parallel to the plane of said chains.

3. A mechanical loader for loose material comprising'a support, channelsformed in said support, a pair of endless chains lying in the sameplane, a pair of sprockets supporting said chains on said support, saidchannels supporting the runs of said chains between the sprockets, and ascraper bar secured to said chains, said chains propelling and guidingthe scraper bar bodily in an oblong orbital path while maintaining said,bar parallel to the plane of said chains.

4. A mechanical loader for loose material comprising a support includingan inclined wall, a pair of chains lying in the same plane and mountedon said inclined wall, pins mounted at substantially correspondingpoints on the respective chains, a scraper bar secured to said pins atsubstantially corresponding points on the respective chains and means tomove said chains.

5. A mechanical loader for loose material comprising a support, a pairof endless chains lying in the same plane, a pair of sprocketssupporting each chain, the sprockets of one of said pair of chains being.spaced further apart than the sprockets of the other of said pair ofchains, means positioned in the path of one of said chains to deflectthe path of travel of said chain, a scraper bar secured to said chainsat substantially corresponding points on the respective chains and meansto move said chains.

JOHN SHEPPARD.

